Fish & Game calls on anglers and game bird hunters to push for resource management fixes

Fish & Game New Zealand says the Government's new resource management legislation doesn't reflect the needs of people who fish and hunt game birds and needs to be changed.

The Government has replaced the Resource Management Act with two new laws: a Planning Act to enable development and regulate land use, and a Natural Environment Act to set a framework for the use, protection, and enhancement of the natural environment.

“As drafted, the bills do not recognise fishing and game bird hunting values, do not protect trout and salmon habitat, and do not guarantee recreation or access,” says Fish & Game Chief Executive Corina Jordan.

“They also do not carry over the recognition Fish & Game's role and management plans have under the current law, and they rely heavily on the National Policy Direction and Ministerial decisions still to come, rather than firm protections set out in the legislation itself.

“Without change, the habitats that support fishing and game bird hunting are less certain, and Fish & Game's ability to advocate for anglers, game bird hunters, and for healthy habitats that support sports fish and game birds is significantly restricted.

"Fish & Game has broader concerns about the environmental impacts of the legislation but has concentrated on the interests of anglers and game bird hunters, the trout, salmon and game birds they value, and the rivers, lakes and wetlands those species depend on,” says Jordan.

“Fish & Game put its case to decision makers, made a submission through the select committee process, and encouraged licence holders to make their own submissions. “On the matters most important to anglers and game bird hunters, we have not got the changes we needed."

Jordan said the National Policy Direction draft doesn't address the issues.

“Much of the detail that will determine how the new system works in practice sits in the National Policy Direction (NPD), and that has not yet been finalised. That draft direction has not currently resolved the issues Fish & Game raised, but consultation remains open, and anglers and game bird hunters will have an opportunity to have their say on it.”

Fish & Game is encouraging licence holders to write to the Minister for Hunting and Fishing James Meager, contact their local MPs and ask them to support changes that recognise angling and game bird hunting values and protect the species and habitats these activities depend on, and give feedback on the National Policy Direction before feedback closes at on 16 October.

“This is an opportunity for anglers and game bird hunters from every region, and for the rural communities and others who care about these activities, to make their views known. The more the Minister and MPs hear directly from the people they represent, the better the chance they will make the changes needed.”

Go to https://www.fishandgame.org.nz/environment/resource-management-reforms/

The key changes Fish & Game is seeking to the Acts

• Recognise angling and game bird hunting values, recreation and public access as goals the new system must actively provide for.
• Protect the habitat of trout and salmon, including by amending the definition of life-supporting capacity so it includes valued introduced species.
• Set firm environmental limits with fewer exceptions and embed environmental bottom lines in the legislation rather than relying on Ministerial discretion through the National Policy Direction.
• Define and protect wetlands, with clear provision for their identification, protection, maintenance and restoration.
• Require Fish & Game to be consulted on national instruments, plans and decision-making that affect the species and habitats it manages.
• Carry over recognition of Sports Fish and Game Management Plans, as required under the current RMA, into the new plans.
• Carry the minimum discharge standards in sections 70 and 107 of the RMA through into the Natural Environment Act

Key changes Fish & Game is seeking to the NPD 

• recognise recreation and public enjoyment of the natural environment as a national priority
• protect and enhance public access to rivers, lakes and wetlands
• set freshwater health so it provides for trout, salmon and game birds, not indigenous species alone
• protect wetlands and make it easier to restore and create them
• make sure the housing, infrastructure and primary production directives do not come at the cost of the water and habitats that fishing and game bird hunting depend on

Caption: Underwood Wetland